Agrocoin Offers an ICO for Hot Chile Peppers

Mexico-based Agrocoin is offering tokens backed by Habanero peppers. The peppers are among the world’s hottest and rated between 100,000 and 350,000 on the Scoville scale, a system used to categorize heat content of spicy foods. Per the offering, a 500 peso ($27) Agrocoin will be backed by a square meter of peppers produced in a square meter of land in Quintana Roo state, 25 miles south of Cancun. The tokens can be exchanged after a year’s lock-up period. The company has also promised to pay a dividend of about 30% of cost output and demand on a yearly basis. (See also: The Rise of 'Initial Coin Offerings.')

Rising Demand Cited

According to a blog entry on its website, the company is counting on two factors to drive growth in the future. The first one is an increase in demand for Habanero peppers. As spicy cuisine gains popularity, import statistics of Habanero peppers have risen. Second, the company expects a decline in production in the Dominican Republic, Mexico’s biggest competitor for exporting hot chile peppers to the U.S., due to devastation caused by hurricanes last year. Hurricane Maria slammed the country during the growing period of Habanero peppers in 2017. (See also: How Companies Use "Initial Coin Offerings.')

In an interview with Bloomberg, company president Rodrigo Domenzain said that the offering was aimed at investors “who wanted to invest, but with less money.” 

“Agrocoin allows us to have a new investment product backed by agricultural goods,” he said. As the Bloomberg piece points out, this is not the first time that blockchain technology is being used for vegetables. Ripe.io is using the technology to ensure ripe tomatoes. Agrocoin has already sold 50,000 out of 1 million tokens in its offering.

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